Dragon 4 Chapter 2 (Patreon)

"My boy, there you are." Rupert greeted me excitedly as I walked onto the green. "Scarlett had your clubs brought over." He gestured to my first wife, who was wearing a preppy white shirt and a distractingly short skirt. I couldn’t help it as my eyes lingered on her, taking in my beautiful kitsune, even if she did have her tails and ears hidden at the moment.

A small giggle sounded to her side, and I turned to take in Jadelyn. She had her blonde hair up in a high ponytail and a proper golf outfit hugging her body.

"You two..." I trailed off, shaking my head. "We can find a caddie and you two can come along normally."

"Nope. I didn't bring my clubs." Jadelyn replied. "Besides, you still need all the help I can give you on golf. Remember last time?"

I shrugged, brushing off that incident. "People lose balls from time to time when golfing. You said so yourself."

Scarlett coughed a laugh. "Not everyone sends them into orbit."

I rolled my eyes. Golf was hard for me; I was still learning how to temper my strength and not end up bending the club with my swing. It was an exercise in restraint, one that my lovely mates loved to test.

Rupert had bought me an apparently very nice set, according to Jadelyn. I didn’t want to ruin it right in front of him.

"Come on. I told them we'd meet them on the green." Rupurt hooked an arm around my shoulder and dragged me into the golf cart while the two girls piled in back, holding onto the bags. We would certainly have the best looking caddies on the green.

Rupert, who looked like a bust of Poseidon come to life, was thrilled to have me around since he’d learned I was a dragon the past winter. He really put me up on a pedestal.

"So, who's the guest that is important enough that you only have trusted people as your caddies?" I asked, sensing something was off with the girls being caddies instead of a random siren like normal.

Rupert looked over his shoulder at Jadelyn. "Did you tip him off?"

"Not a word, nor an unsaid gesture." She promised.

"You are getting sharper." Rupert laughed. "They are guests from the Yangze Valley. They are fierce competitors, and I recognize their caddie. He is a shenlong and a very famous hit man."

"Wait, you brought me for protection?" I frowned. That wasn’t the deal, though I wouldn’t begrudge my father-in-law.

Rupert looked hurt. "No, just for posturing. It's the Yangze people, always about face, honor and whatnot. If he brings a dragon, I have to bring a dragon too."

"Shenlong aren't dragons." I replied. They were an offshoot of something else, very strong, but not dragons.

"Tell them that." Rupert grunted. "At the very least, they will insist that they are relatives of dragons. Besides, you said you liked golf."

Scarlett snickered behind me.

I hated golf. Holding back so much made me want to growl and really let loose. Throw a few fireballs, wash out a parking lot with dragon fire.

Rupert pulled the golf cart up to two Asian men. One stood relaxed with his arms behind his back, facing away from us, seemingly enjoying a peaceful moment. The other was vigilant in his stance, as if combat was going to start any moment. "Afternoon Touru."

"Ah, you are back, you scaly bastard." The older of the two Asian men turned around to regard Rupert with a smile. He was an older, graying man, with eyebrows like two fuzzy caterpillars.

Instantly, his grandfatherly vibe made him likable, which only made me more wary.

"I thought it wise to announce our arrival. I wasn't sure if you could see me through those bushy eyebrows." Rupert jabbed him right back.

"A wise man once said that you shouldn't judge a man by his eyebrows." Touro joked.

They seemed more like old friends than business rivals who needed an assassin with them.

But I was still learning the politics of the paranormal world. The Fall Lady and Spring Lady were technically enemies on opposing sides of war, but they also seemed to have a camaraderie between them.

I wondered who stood opposed to me in the paranormal world.

"Now, who is this you've brought with you?" Touru focused on me with what bordered on excitement.

Rupert’s business partners were often giddy to meet the new Dragon King and he played it off every time as if it were the most casual thing in the world.

"Oh, just my son-in-law." Rupert patted me on the shoulder. "This is Zach Pendragon."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." I held out my hand to shake his.

As my arm moved, his bodyguard went rigid, as if I had just slapped him.

"I assume a handshake is okay?" Chuckling, I didn't withdraw it, just let it waggle a little before him.

Touru grabbed my hand and pumped it twice with a firm grip. "You'll have to excuse him. The stories we've heard of you might be a little exaggerated. Supposedly you killed a god and closed heaven's gates after angels offended you."

"Ah." I let out a small laugh. "Well, I did kill a god, but he was sort of old and shriveled up. And as for heaven, much of that was with the help of my wife, Morgana Silverwing."

Touru laughed with me. "Oh yes, I'm not sure which is more terrifying, having the dragons at your back or one of the world's most dangerous persons as your wife." He continued in good nature, but he spoke what sounded like a sharp rebuke of his guard in Chinese.

The Shenlong watched me warily, as if I were a serpent poised to strike.

"Come on. We came to golf, didn't we?" Rupert’s voice boomed out as he tried to bring the tension back down. He walked over to the tee, where Jadelyn was placing his ball on the tee.

My father-in-law actually loved to golf.

Jadelyn handed him a club, and Rupert lined up before slicing it through the air, sending the ball flying with a crisp clack.

He froze mid pose until the ball landed on the first hole's green. "I'll take it." He handed the club back to Jadelyn.

"We shall see. I'll bet you ten that I beat you in the first half." Touru set himself up and wiggled his hips.

I leaned back and whispered to Jadelyn. "Ten thousand?" I asked, assuming it was more than just ten dollars.

"Million." She corrected me.

And in that moment, I was out of the running for any bets with them. My dragon was not going to risk that type of money. I could feel the beast inside of me metaphorically clutching its pearls at the idea of betting that kind of money.

Touru clipped his ball. It went wide to the right but arched back over, landing right next to Rupert’s ball.

"I'll take that bet." Touru said as Rupert started walking with him.

The Shenlong looked back at me for a moment with a warning before continuing.

I just hoped I didn't accidentally hit anyone and knock them unconscious.

"Here, just control your breathing and aim for the hole." Scarlett handed me a club while she gave me terrible advice.

"Gee, thanks. I never would have guessed. You don't know how hard it is to hit something hard, but not activate dragon strength." I stuck my tongue out a little as I focused and wound up to hit the ball.

"You do it during sex all the time." Jadelyn threw out right with my downswing.

I stumbled on my swing, yet still managed to smash it high into the air. "Damn it, Jade."

But she was shielding her eyes from the sun as she watched the ball.

It soared high, aiming right for the green and landing with a bounce. It rolled right into the cup.

"Damn, that worked." Scarlett sounded surprised. “You were right, Jade. Just have to get him out of his own head.”

"Do not bring up sex every time." I growled.

Jadelyn gave me a smirk and a helpless shrug. "If it works, who am I to challenge the method? Try thinking of sex for your next swing."

Unbelievable. "So, is the plane all ready for tomorrow?" I happily changed the subject.

"Fueled, ready, and the pilot is on standby. We'll leave in the morning. And security will arrive twenty minutes early to do a sweep of the plane." Scarlett answered.

Jadelyn was practically vibrating next to me. "I can't believe I'm going to meet the Bronze King and a bunch of other dragons!"

"This is serious. From what the Bronze King implied and everybody else seems to believe, I’m about to become the King. And that means it won’t just be me trying to get dragons to go to war with the Templar; I will be making the call." The stress of the impending dragon conclave had been weighing on me.

"If you don't want war, say no. And Morgana shut out the celestial plane. We have some time," Jadelyn spoke as if it was a simple switch to flip.

I grunted. A part of me wanted to tear the celestials and the church to pieces. What they did to the silver slave was unforgivable. But starting a war that would claim countless lives in return. I still wasn’t sure what was the right answer, but I’d have to come to a decision.

The celestial plane would open a new portal somewhere in the world. It was only a matter of time. Our celestial problem was delayed, but not gone.

And they weren’t my only problem. While I’d taken out Nat’alet, I still hadn’t solved the issue that his organization presented. Somebody was out there pulling strings, and I didn’t like that. I had no idea who they were.

"Get out of your head and just relax." Scarlett got in the golf cart and pulled it up beside me. "Worrying won’t solve anything, and soon you’ll have a small army to help you. Can we just relax for now before all the chaos begins?"

I hopped in the golf cart, and we puttered down to join the others.

"Great way to start off the game." Rupert laughed. "Glad you aren't in on the bet."

"Oh, maybe we can strike up a bet between you and me." Touru scratched at his chin. "I have a daughter--"

Before he could finish his statement, small pops went off, one after another.

Being around Morgana as much as I had, I recognized the noise instantly.

My hand turned into sharp claws as I flipped and lifted the golf cart up like a shield in front of our group, unceremoniously dumping the girls out of the cart.

The staccato of gunfire trailed off, and I pulled the golf cart away only to whip my arm in the direction of a speeding black SUV. It was peeling away on the road that butted up against the golf course.

A fireball raced out from my palm, striking the SUV. It exploded and ripped the SUV apart in a sudden inferno.

Glass-shattered panels melted and its tires rolled free.

We stood for a moment in silence, everybody processing what had just happened.

"Anyone hurt?" I asked, looking around. Nobody seemed harmed.

Rupert and Jadelyn were dusting grass off their clothes from where Scarlett had knocked them down. Touru was readjusting his clothes as he got up as well.

"We are fine." Scarlett confirmed, but looked down at the SUV. "It will be hard to figure out who did it now."

A hub cap rolled across the green and bumped into the discarded golf cart.

"My bad. I just reacted."

Touru laughed. "Wow, not only did I get to meet the new dragon king, but I got to witness him destroy an attacker with a flick of his wrist. Truly marvelous."

This was clearly not Touru’s first assassination attempt. He seemed relatively calm as he picked up his club and walked over to his ball.

"Alright, let's get this hole finished. I’d like to move deeper into the course and away from the highway." Scarlett grumbled, continuing to scan the area around us for any threats.

***

"You were shot at?" Kelly mumbled with bobby pins in her mouth. She turned around as she was pinning her hair back. Her eyes shifted wolf on me.

"Well, I'm not sure who they were aiming at. So, technically, I'm not sure I was shot at." I shrugged it off. Bullets wouldn't do much to my body either way, not since I’d become a dragon and leveled up as it were after eating the silver slave.

"Besides, if I was the target and they’d done even an ounce of research, they would have known they’d need more than a gun."

My reasoning didn’t seem to calm her at all.

"I just don't like you getting shot at." She leaned forward into the mirror and continued to work on her hair.

While I should be appreciating that work she was doing, my eyes were drawn down to her tight rear in the little black dress she was wearing for our date tonight.

"Compared to angels, trolls, corrupt werewolves and old gods, it isn’t a giant threat. It would be more like someone scoffing at me before." I laid back on her bed in the pack house.

Since Kelly had become the first female alpha, she’d had some work to do to solidify her pack and put back together her father’s pack house.

I’d thought cleaning up her father’s old warehouse slash bunker would take massive amounts of work after the pack had wrecked it, but it turned out that werewolves could do construction work pretty quickly.

They’d even extended it, building it further underground.

Kelly’s room had also been connected to Morgana’s Atrium, giving me access to her room. Morgana had connected all my mates.

Kelly crawled over me, hiking up her dress to show the ruby red panties she wore underneath as she sat on my hips. "We could always be a little late?"

I smiled, giving her a kiss. "No, we can’t, and you know it. Frank will throw a fit. He's been bugging me since he learned I could get him free burlesque show tickets at Bumps in the Night."

"Morgana is totally going to be dancing for you. Are you okay with him seeing that?" Kelly asked, pushing off of me.

I knew that Morgana liked to dance, but it hadn't escaped my notice that she only ever danced if I was in the crowd. And when she did, she stared at me the entire time.

She also never showed too much. She just enticed and seduced me, and I loved every minute of it.

There was one time a guy got on stage, trying to get to her. My beast had not been a fan and had quickly determined a number of ways to tear the man apart, but my other mates had kept me under control while Morgana’s security removed the problem.

"I know that look." Kelly looked into my eyes.

"It will be fine. I have no issue with her dancing, as long as someone doesn't try to get up there again." I shrugged. The possessiveness that was a part of my nature and I was done trying to fight it.

"Then let's go, my broody dragon. My hair isn't going to stay this nice for long, though, so you’ll need to appreciate it now. You can appreciate my ass and the lingerie I’m wearing for you later." She bounced off of me and moved over to a full-length mirror on the wall. She pushed a dual latch switch, and it swung it off the wall to a hallway behind it.

I had to duck to enter behind the mirror, but it provided an excellent cover for the secret passageway.

Kelly sealed it behind us and entered the main hall of the atrium before hooking her arm in mine. "I hate that I'm not coming with you to Dubai."

Kissing her cheek, I worked to reassure her. I understood why she was staying behind. "You have pack duties to attend to. And as big of a deal as it is, I’m sure it will have plenty of boring, administrative moments. Just a bunch of very, very old dragons grumbling about some golden years that are from before we were born."

Kelly sighed. "Okay, maybe I dodged a bullet. But it would be fun to see Scarlett clam jam a bunch of snooty dragons. She's done a great job with Chloe and Larisa."

"She’s not clam jamming them. She’s just screening applicants." I barely believed the words as I said them.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you want to call it." Kelly pulled out her phone from her clutch and opened The App.

"Please put that away." I groaned.

Kelly snickered. "No way. This thing is endless amusement." She swiped on the screen as a myriad of women's profile pictures showed on the screen.

"What are you even going to do with them?"

"Who knows?" She shrugged before putting it back away as we approached another door.

I opened the door, black lights streaming out from the space on the other side as thumping music played.

Morgana's club, Bumps in the Night, came to life before us.

The music flooded the space, and people danced drunkenly throughout the first level down of the club. This area was still normal people; it wasn't until lower into the club that it started to turn more... paranormal.

"Zach!" Frank waved to get my attention while yelling at me from the bar.

Maddie waved, far less dramatically, next to him and spoke once we got closer. "You look great Kelly."

"You too, girl. You look fantastic in purple." Kelly gave Maddie a big hug and then dragged her over to the bar to get more drinks.

Frank offered me a fist to bump, and I obliged him. "Dude, where are the rest?"

"Scarlett and Jadelyn had a sorority thingy. Something about girl bonding."

"And Morgana?" He asked.

"Part of the show." I grumbled.

Frank's eyes got wide with anticipation, and my beast growled in my chest. "Whoa, I just was interested. I'd never." Frank held up his hands, seeing a little anger in me.

"Kidding. Come on, get a drink. They are free when you are with me." I patted him on the shoulder and directed him after the ladies who were already ordering at the bar.

"How much will that be?" Maddie asked the bartender.

He took one look at me and waved her off with a smile. "No charge, not for friends of Zach's."

Maddie looked at me strangely, as if she thought I was suddenly suspicious.

"Morgana owns the place, and the people here know me." I drank free and so did anyone with me.

"Yeah, but he looked at you like he worshiped you." She said, keeping the frown on her face.

He was a... something... I forgot what. But the entire paranormal community seemed generally in awe of my dragon heritage. "Just friendly with the staff."

Maddie put it aside as soon as she had her drink that looked like liquid sapphires, and took a sip. "This is fantastic!" I was pretty sure I had seen the bartender use the good stuff under the counter.

Frank and I got our own drinks before we made our way down to the second level. That was where it was spooky dark, except for a stage washed in dim cool light.

I moved over to a table I knew had been reserved for us and sat down; the others joining me. We got a few odd looks given that no one else had reserved a table. Perks of being mated to the owner.

Just as we sat, the music kicked up, and a woman spun out on stage, followed by three more to do their number.

Frank's eyes were glued to the stage with fascination.

This song was a peppy one, meant to warm everybody up. The girls danced and flipped their skirts, giving just the slightest glimpse of what was underneath.

It wasn't until partway through the show that Morgana strutted out wearing nothing but a dress of silk strips that danced down her body as she moved through a solo number.

The strips were expertly placed and weighted, so as she slid from one movement to another, the crowd was leaning towards the stage in anticipation of the silk strips parting and giving the crowd a good view of her flesh. Yet it never quite happened. I had my limits.

The entire time, her eyes were locked on mine and she ended the number by rolling off the stage and strutting through the crowd. It felt more like exhibitionism while being with me than showing herself off to others.

When she landed in my lap and rubbed herself up against me, I was pretty sure all the men in the front row wanted to murder me.

But the show continued, the earlier dancers getting back up on stage and drawing their attention once more.

"Wow." Frank said with a small clap for Morgana. "That was incredible."

"Thank you." Morgana purred in her swiss accent. The silken strips on her dress danced over my skin, giving me goosebumps and terrible ideas.

But it felt just slightly off. She was wearing her amulet tightly around her neck, like a choker. It helped hide her paranormal qualities, and while she was still stunning, she wasn’t quite my Morgana.

I missed her blue skin.

"Blueberry." Kelly cleared her throat. "This is my date."

"But I just did all that work, furball."

The two glared at each other, and I thought I felt a little static build up between them before they broke it.

Morgana bent her neck down and started leaving little vampire venom infused kisses along my neck that made me relax and my cock strain against my jeans. "I'll see you later." She whispered before sweeping her legs off me in a fluid motion and speaking up louder. "Have a good date night. Try not to come home covered in hair."

Kelly scowled at her, but let it go, pushing herself back up against me. "She did that on purpose."

"What?" I said, feeling like I was missing something.

"Nothing." Kelly pushed it aside and plastered a smile on her face. "Let's go dancing."